Carolyn Dorin-Ballard's Bio

Highlights:

The consistent excellence that had characterized Carolyn Dorin-Ballard’s career gave way to utter domination in 2001. She was named PWBA Player of the Year in the first-ever unanimous vote after being the runner-up for that honor the previous four years. It wasn’t a close call. Carolyn’s seven tournament titles in 2001 tied Patty Costello’s single-season record, set in 1976, and she set or broke at least eight other records.

Her breakout season made her an easy choice for postseason honors. Carolyn was selected as the Bowlers Journal International Person of the Year, and also was named Player of the Year by the Bowling Writers Association of America and Bowling Digest. In addition, she was nominated for an ESPY, recognized as Bowler of the Year by the New Jersey Sports Writers Association, and helped gain national media exposure for PWBA.

Carolyn Dorin-Ballard – The Bowler

Carolyn Dorin-Ballard before she joined the PWBA

• Carolyn grew up in a bowling family and began competing in junior leagues at age 6. Her sister, Cathy Dorin-Lizzi, also is a PWBA member, and her parents, George and Maryann, competed twice a week in leagues. George was a scratch player and is a member of the Union County Hall of Fame, as is Carolyn.

• Carolyn had an accomplished junior career, which included being a three-year member of the Linden High School varsity team. She also was named state Junior Bowler of the Year as a ninth grader.

• In 1986, Carolyn accepted a partial bowling scholarship to bowl at West Texas State University, then ranked third in the nation.

• Carolyn led West Texas to the national championship in 1987 and 1988 and was a three-time All-American. She also was the MVP of the Intercollegiate Bowling Championships in 1989.

• Despite all the collegiate awards and titles, one of Carolyn’s most vivid collegiate memories is a title that got away. Teamed with sister Cathy and close friend Tammy Turner for one season in 1989, Carolyn, bowling anchor, missed a 10-pin in the 10th frame that would have sent West Texas to the finals. “I felt horrible,” Carolyn says. “I didn’t feel horrible for myself because I had already won two national championships. I felt horrible for those girls because I had let them down. That might have been their only chance at a national championship.”

Carolyn Joined the PWBA Tour in 1990

• Carolyn teamed with Lisa Wagner, the tour’s top player in the 1980s, to win the 1991 Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour National Doubles title.

• Despite her amateur success and that first tour victory, Carolyn recalls that her early years on tour were marked by a lack of consistency. “I did not make the cut every week, and I was not a factor,” she says. “It was a growing experience. I needed to learn how to bowl. My first four or five years were really a lengthy learning experience.”

• Carolyn’s work ethic, and mentoring from the likes of Wagner and husband Del Ballard Jr., a PBA Hall of Famer, helped turn her into a force on tour. “I thought I had talent, but I was very raw,” Carolyn says. “I am not a natural or gifted bowler. Everything I’ve done to this day, I had to work for. I had a good foundation, but I did not have the assets to be a very good bowler on tour. During my first few years, there were times when I said, ‘Oh my God, I’m not going to make it.’ I remember one time calling Cathy. I had just missed the cut again by a few pins. I was very upset, and all she kept saying was, ‘You’re good enough, hang in there, you’ll make it.’ It’s wonderful to know you always have someone behind you.”

• A breakthrough came in 1994, when Carolyn won her first singles title at the Lady Ebonite Classic. She played consistently over the next four seasons, reaching the televised finals 20 times, before finally winning again at the Three Rivers Open in Pittsburgh. That began a stretch of excellence during which she won eight times over four seasons and was runner-up for PWBA Player of the Year each year. “When I finally saw the results of all the work over the past four years, I realized I could make it out here,” she says.”

Carolyn enjoyed a breakout season in 2001

• In 2001, Carolyn won a record-tying seven events and posted a Tour-best 214.73 scoring average on her way to becoming the PWBA Player of the Year. Her $135,045 in earnings was almost $40,000 more than her nearest competitor.

• Carolyn recorded a PWBA-record 18 televised finals appearances in 2001, and broke eight other Tour records.

• Carolyn earned numerous honors for her achievements in 2001. She was named the Bowler’s Journal International Person of the Year, and also Player of the Year by the Bowling Writers Association of America and Bowling Digest. She also was the New Jersey Sports Writers Association’s Bowler of the Year, and was named Female Bowler of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Columbus, OH.

• Carolyn also was nominated for an ESPY. The ESPY winners will be announced in July.

• Carolyn enters the 2002 season having finished no lower than 15th in 46 consecutive tournaments, and she has been in the money in 70 straight tournaments.

• Carolyn has won 18 career titles. Entering just her 13th season, she already is eighth on the Tour’s career earnings list.

The secrets to Carolyn’s success in 2001

• Del helped Carolyn master the sport’s mental side, which she considers the most important part of the game. A new mental approach to tournaments helps keep her fresh at crunch time.

“What Del told me is that you can’t win a tournament on Tuesday,” Carolyn says. “What I learned was that I was thinking way ahead to the final result and was getting totally lost in the pattern it takes to get there. Del taught me how to approach a tournament in four stages: practice, qualifying, match play, and then there’s the [televised] show.”

• Carolyn also complemented her offseason practice sessions by spending more time in the gym. In preseason preparations, she typically spends four days a week in the gym doing weight and cardio work.

• Carolyn excelled on the PWBA’s tough tracks. “I feel the lane conditions were a little tougher last year,” Carolyn says. “The tougher the lane conditions, the better it is for me. I’m not a power player, but every week I’m able to keep the ball in play. Last year, you had to really execute, really had to be on your game. And when you weren’t, you really paid for it. You couldn’t just throw the ball right and count on it to hook back. I was able to keep the ball in play, and one of my assets is that I’m a good spare shooter.”

Carolyn recorded her most memorable win in 2001

• Carolyn counts the Women’s International Bowling Congress Championship in 2001 as her most memorable victory because it is the sport’s premier match-play event. But, she says, “I just love to win, and every single one is special to me.”

The 2001 campaign provided another highlight

• Carolyn had the chance to meet and talk with one of her idols, Billie Jean King, at the U.S. Open in December. “She’s very inspiring. She’s done so much for women’s athletics,” says Carolyn. “Even though bowling is not up to the same level [of public recognition] as tennis, she made us feel that we were doing a lot for women’s sports. It was a real confidence booster and very motivating.”

What Carolyn prefers in bowling equipment

• Carolyn has endorsed Ebonite since 1994 and is a member of the company’s Pro Staff of Champions. These days she uses many Ebonite balls, depending on the lane conditions during her two-hour practice sessions on Sundays.

“I usually start the Tour with at least 20 or 22 balls, and when I came home last year, I had 38 to 40 balls,” she says. “The oil used on the lanes soaks into the balls, and eventually they stop hooking.”

Carolyn also is a member of the Contour Power Grip staff.

Carolyn has her own apparel line

• Carolyn’s endorsement contract with Ebonite includes “The Carolyn Collection,” a line of fashionable women’s bowling apparel. The apparel is sold direct over ebonite.com, bowlingballmall.com and carolyndorin.com.

“The reason I started the apparel line with Ebonite was to give women a choice of having clothes that are designed for women,” says Carolyn. “For the longest time, bowling only offered men’s shirts to wear. I wanted women to have clothes that made them look like women.”

Perfect - many times over

• Carolyn has bowled 16 perfect games (score of 300), the most memorable being the first in 1982 at Four Seasons Bowl in Union, NJ, where she was the first woman to accomplish the feat.

Carolyn Dorin-Ballard – The Person

• Carolyn was born into a close-knit family in Linden, NJ, in 1964. Her sister Cathy is two years younger and also competes on the PWBA tour. Carolyn still returns home regularly to visit with family and friends, some of whom helped sponsor her and supported her career.

• Carolyn received her B.A. in radio, TV and film, with a minor in public relations. While at West Texas State (now West Texas A&M), she hosted a three-hour radio show, spinning contemporary pop hits. “I loved being a DJ,” says Carolyn. “If I wasn’t a professional bowler, I’d probably be a professional DJ. I love to talk, and I’m obviously not shy.”

• While in college, Carolyn met Del Ballard, who owned a pro shop in the area. Del and Carolyn were married in 1996. They live in North Richland Hills, TX, near Fort Worth. (Carolyn’s sister, Cathy, also is married to a PBA member, Jeff Lizzi.)

Carolyn is at home in front of a crowd

• Before she was spinning the hits, Carolyn was covering them. In high school, she and Cathy sang in a rock band, covering tunes from the Eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pat Benatar and others. “Cathy and I harmonize very well,” Carolyn says. “We used to do battles of the bands at high schools, we did performances in the parks.” The pair still likes to stretch their vocal cords on Karaoke nights.

• Carolyn always has been a natural in front of a crowd. Growing up, she frequently gave speeches, often in support of her mother, Maryann, who was active in local politics.

• In recent years, Carolyn has done regular color commentary of PWBA broadcasts for ESPN and ESPN2. “I’ve really enjoyed doing that,” she says. “There are certain perceptions people have about bowlers, and I think I can add some insights into what we’re really all about.”

• She makes regular personal appearances in support of youth bowling. And on or off the lanes, she’s a crowd favorite and has her own fan club, “Carolyn’s Crew.”

• Carolyn is a popular pro-am partner and enjoys the chance to bowl with PWBA supporters and sponsors. “I don’t want to compare ourselves to the men [of the PBA], but I think we’re more personable, and I think that’s because we have to sell ourselves and our sport,” she says.

Even on the road, Carolyn is close to home

• Four years ago, Carolyn purchased a Holiday Rambler Endeavor motor home, which she uses to travel the PWBA circuit.

“I love it,” she says. “It’s like having my house with me. I can walk out of the bowling center, climb into my motor home, I can cook a meal, I can relax between rounds. It’s great.”

Family is a constant theme in Carolyn’s life

• Carolyn travels with her sister, returns home to New Jersey often, and remains close to her extended “bowling family” – friends, supporters and former sponsors she has known most of her life.

• Carolyn’s one regret about her historic 2001 campaign is that she couldn’t share it with her father, George. He passed away last year of heart failure at age 75.

“I love my husband, I love my sister, my mother and family, but I have never loved anyone so deeply in my life,” Carolyn says. “I did all these great things, and the one person I wanted to call and tell everything to wasn’t there…. There are no words to describe the emptiness you feel when you care so passionately about someone.”

Not just a sport, but life lessons

• Many of the lessons Carolyn learned as a young bowler didn’t involve the sport, but rather life itself. When she began competing at age 6, she says, “My father harped on lane etiquette. He wanted me to know how to make the proper four-step approach and things like that, but he really harped on the fact that I had to conduct myself properly.”

• Similarly, an early episode in her amateur career illustrates Carolyn’s lofty expectations, but also the balanced perspective her parents instilled in her. After an impressive sophomore season on her high school varsity team, Carolyn recalls being “devastated” at not being named New Jersey’s Junior Bowler of the Year. Shortly after the award was announced, she ran into the winner at the state junior bowling tournament.

“I’ll never forget what my mother said to me,” Carolyn says. “She said, ‘You are going to show her you can be a gracious loser. You’re going to go over to her and congratulate her and be happy for her.’ Throughout my life, I always think about that. It helped me to become a better bowler and accept losses not as failures, but as learning experiences.”

Love of country was drilled into Carolyn at an early age

• Carolyn’s appreciation for American values didn’t start on Sept. 11.

It was drilled into her at an early age by her parents, particularly her father, George. “If anyone asks me to describe my father, I’ll tell them he’s probably the best American I’ve ever known,” she says. “He was the best of America.”

During World War II, George Dorin sneaked into the U.S. Army after being turned away by the Navy and Marines because he was only 16 years old. George later was captured in Bastogne and spent nine months in a German POW camp, where he celebrated his 18th birthday. Says Carolyn: “I grew up with the flag on my front door. When I see people burning the flag, I want to say, ‘Go elsewhere.’ I am such a proud American. We were raised to salute the flag.”

Charitable activities

• Carolyn is an active supporter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

• Carolyn is the official spokesperson for High School Bowling U.S.A., and she is in the process of developing a college scholarship fund to support female bowlers in Texas. The scholarship reflects her desire to expand youth participation in bowling.

• Carolyn will help support the ROTC scholarship program for a Linden High School senior. The program is in honor of her father, George.